5 Things You Need to Know to Read DC's Convergence Event

April is just around the corner, and that means DC is ready to kick off their latest comic book event, Convergence. Convergence is a big 8-part crossover that will replace DC's normal New 52 comics for April and May. Easily its biggest selling point is the fact that it's bringing back classic, pre-New 52 versions of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and various other heroes.

Exit Theatre Mode

With old heroes returning and different universes mashing together as part of a huge story, it's understandable you'd need a primer to keep everything straight. Comics have a reputation for being hard to get into, but we've laid out everything you need to know in our handy guide. Check it out so you can dive into Convergence when it starts tomorrow!

The New 52 Is Taking a Break

The vast majority of the comics DC publishes these days (outside of their digital-first titles like Injustice: Gods Among Us and Batman ‘66) are set within the company’s New 52 continuity. The New 52 kicked off in September 2011 as DC revamped their franchises and worked to make a cleaner and more accessible version of their universe. That universe isn’t going away, but it is taking a break for the next two months.

All of DC’s ongoing series will be going on hiatus during April and May, to be replaced by Convergence and its various tie-in comics. There are a few exceptions (mainly the aforementioned digital-first comics and a handful of New 52 issues that have fallen behind schedule), but for the most part DC will be New 52-free until June. The New 52 versions of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and the rest will play no part in this massive crossover. Instead, Convergence will explore a number of alternate realities and the heroes that inhabit them.

The basic reasoning behind this is two-fold. On one hand, DC’s editorial staff is in the midst of a big move from their traditional New York headquarters to California in order to be closer to their parent company, Time Warner. Convergence is designed to help facilitate that move. By putting the New 52 on hold for two months and prioritizing a separate crossover with its own editors and creators, DC editorial can deal with the move and not have their usual lineup of books suffer as a result.

If that were the only reason for Convergence’s existence, it might not make for the greatest story. But this event is also aimed at giving readers something they’ve been clamoring for since the New 52 started - a look back at the DCU as it once was. Convergence is celebration of DC’s past, cramming many alternate worlds together and exploring what happens when these many heroes come into conflict.

The Old DC Universe Is Coming Back (For Now)

Every decade or two, DC has a habit of publishing a big story aimed at streamlining their increasingly complex continuity and updating characters to suit contemporary tastes. 1985’s Crisis on Infinite Earths was the first to attempt this process, squeezing DC’s vast lineup of alternate Earths into one universe. That streamlining process continued in 1994’s Zero Hour and (to a lesser extent) in 2005’s Infinite Crisis. The most recent book to prune and overhaul DC continuity was 2011’s Flashpoint, which culminated with the creation of the current New 52 continuity.

With Convergence, DC is bringing back these older versions of their universe. The story unfolds on a world located outside of time and space and occupied by 40 different cities pulled from different timelines and alternate Earths. One of these cities features heroes from the pre-Flashpoint DCU (where a married Superman and Lois Lane are expecting a child, Renee Montoya is still the Question, and Barbara Gordon is still Oracle). Another features heroes from the Zero Hour era (spotlighting DC as it was in the early ‘90s), while a third includes ‘80s-era heroes from prior to the original Crisis.

In addition to these three versions of the main DC Universe, a number of iconic alternate realities will also be featured in Convergence. Those include the Red Rain universe (where Batman and Joker are vampires), the Red Son universe (where Superman is the ruler of the Soviet Union), the Kingdom Come universe (where an aging Justice League have been replaced by younger, more militant heroes) and even Flashpoint itself (where Barry Allen’s time-meddling has created a world where Atlantis and the Amazons are locked in perpetual war).

Whereas the current DC multiverse is limited to 52 unique worlds, the pre-Crisis DC multiverse was basically infinite. Many of those alternate versions of Earth are coming back into play for this story, as all these heroes and villains find themselves pawns in a larger game.

Brainiac and Telos Are the Main Villains

Most DC fans will recognize Brainiac. This hyper-intelligent, ruthless character is one of Superman’s greatest villains. Brainiac is motivated by a desire to possess all knowledge in the universe while simultaneously preventing others from sharing it. He carries out that goal by stealing fragments of a civilization, shrinking them into a miniature bottle form, and then destroying the rest. Brainiac was responsible for stealing and bottling the Kryptonian city of Kandor shortly before that planet exploded. The tragedy is that while a part of Superman’s lost home survived, it remains shrunken and isolated from the universe.

It turns out that Brainiac has been quite busy over the years. Each of the 40 cities on Brainiac’s world were collected and bottled moments before their respective universes were obliterated. Just before Crisis on Infinite Earths wiped out the classic DCU, Brainiac collected a sample. Before the DCU circa-2011 was obliterated by Flashpoint, Brainiac collected a sample. Before these various alternate worlds were destroyed and the regular DCU restored, Brainiac collected samples. You get thd idea. Now all of these cities exist on this isolated world, with their inhabitants trapped under impenetrable domes.

Brainiac maintains this orderly world, but his disappearance is the spark that kicks off the conflict in Convergence. How or why he vanishes is unclear. But it’s probably connected to the rise of a new villain named Telos. Telos is the living embodiment of this world and its 40 cities. As he emerges, the force fields keeping the 40 cities vanish and the cities are thrown into open conflict with each other. As chaos unfolds, heroes from different worlds will be forced to come together, uncover the mystery of Telos’ motivations and try to set things right.

There Are a Lot of Tie-in Comics

As far as event comics go, Convergence is pretty ambitious in size. The crossover consists of the core Convergence mini-series (eight issues long plus a #0 prologue issue) which is written by Jeff King, and then 40 two-issue mini-series that expand on various characters. These 40 books will take the place of DC's regular slate of ongoing comics during the course of April and May.

Now, that may sound intimidating to new readers. Who wants to dive into a crossover that spans almost 90 issues over the course of two months? The good news is that you don't actually need to read all of those comics. The main storyline will be contained to the core Convergence mini-series only. That's where the battle against Brainiac and Telos will unfold. The other 40 books look to be mainly standalone adventures. Rather than seeking to tie into the larger conflict, these books are simply taking advantage of the fact that these older versions of DC's heroes are active again. So the only deciding factor as to which Convergence tie-ins you should read is which books interest you as a DC fan.

The 40 tie-ins basically fall into one of four camps. Ten of the books focus on characters and franchises from DC's pre-Flashpoint continuity. Ten others focus on Zero Hour-era characters. The remaining 20 focus on DC's pre-Crisis history, with half covering the core DCU and half focused on various alternate worlds from the original DC multiverse. Check out the full lineup of tie-ins here.

It all boils down to which elements of DC's past you're most attached to. Do you miss the days when Superman and Lois Lane were married? Then you'll definitely want to check out Dan Jurgens and Lee Weeks' Convergence: Superman. Want to see Gail Simone explore the Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon romance? Check out Convergence: Nightwing/Oracle. Miss the days when Azrael was Batman? Read Larry Hama and Philip Tan's Convergence: Shadow of the Bat.

In many cases, the core appeal of these Convergence tie-ins is seeing writers return to franchises they made famous, whether it's Len Wein penning Convergence: Swamp Thing or Marv Wolfman tackling Convergence: Teen Titans. And with some books like Jeff Parker's Convergence: Shazam or Simon Oliver's Convergence: Plastic Man and the Freedom Fighters, the combination of concept and writer is just too intriguing to pass up.

While we're sure DC wouldn't mind if readers choose to purchase all 89 comics that make up Convergence, we wouldn't recommend it. Stick to reading the main mini-series and a handful of tie-in that pique your interest.

It's a (Mostly) Self-Contained Story

One of the elements that sets Convergence apart from modern event comics is that it's a very isolated story. There hasn't been a great deal of build-up to Convergence in DC's current books, because again, the New 52 character themselves aren't involved in the crossover. Only a handful of storylines have any direct bearing on Convergence. The first hint of Brainiac's plans was alluded to in last year's Futures End: Booster Gold one-shot, as Brainiac captured the hero and forced him to reveal the location of a place called Vanishing Point. Later, the Superman: Doomed crossover culminated with the reveal that DC's pre-New 52 characters still existed in some form. Now we know what form that is.

Aside from those stories, the finales of both The New 52: Futures End and Earth 2: World's End will play into Convergence. However, we won't know exactly what that entails until those two books wrap up and Convergence #0 ships this Wednesday. We do know that the heroes of World's End will feature prominently in the main Convergence comic.

For the most part, Convergence is its own beast. As we mentioned, part of the purpose of this event was to give DC some breathing room during their move west. A huge, continuity-driven crossover would defeat that purpose. This story focuses mainly on characters that weren't in play prior to Convergence and may simply go back in the toy box when the event wraps up at the end of May.

It remains to be seen what, if any lasting impact Convergence will have on DC's regular universe. The publisher is planning a big relaunch in June once Convergence is over, with many new comics kicking off and many ongoing series gaining new creative teams and/or new story directions. But while the New 52 name will be retired, DC's current continuity won't necessarily be changing. The characters and storylines that have featured in the New 52 will still continue on.

Exit Theatre Mode

That doesn't mean Convergence couldn't result in some changes to the DCU. Perhaps this event could pave the way for DC to publish more comics set outside the New 52 universe. It may depend on how well this event sells and if DC determines there's a real interest in seeing these classic heroes back in play. So basically, if you've been clamoring for a return to the DCU of old, now's your opportunity to put your money where your mouth is.